Are All Masses Equal? St. Mary's/Immaculate Conception Sets a Beautiful Table for All Guests at a Celebration of Christ

 

The children, from toddlers to teens, gathered in front of the altar to receive a special blessing that included their parents, too.

Today I attended the single Sunday Mass at St. Mary's.  The pastor of my geographic parish had summarily dismissed the cantor,  thereby disbanding the choir.  I decided to attend Mass at St. Mary's.  Here are sone the great things I found that are not present in all parishes and should not be taken for granted.

1. A warm welcome.  I was a stranger and an odd one at that, what with my big, white N95 covering most of my face.  Nonetheless I was greeted enthusiastically by one of the numerous green-vested ushers stationed at all of the doors.
2. Generous hospitality.  When I went to get one of the bilingual missalettes I saw that none were left.  So much for poor attendance.  One of the parishioners gave me her daughter's missalette despite my protesting that I didn't want take it from her.
3. A beautiful, appropriate and unusual organ prelude.  The organist played a meditation on the In Paradisum chant.  He later said he did it in honor of All Saints Day, for which there was no Mass at St. Mary's.
4. A large, reverent and participatory procession.  The procession included a crucifer, the lector, the celebrant the altar severs and the Eucharistic ministers.
5. Multiple Mass intentions that embraced the community, living and dead.  One of them was "In Thanksiving to God for Niko Alexander Semkiw’s First Birthday."
6. A special blessing for the children at the end of the Mass.  The future of the church in all ages, shapes and sizes rose and stood in the front of the church for their blessing.

I am going back next Sunday.  If you are too far away, you can watch the livestream Mass on their Facebook page next Sunday at 10:00 AM: https://www.facebook.com/groups/229361075128928/user/100064712856807/

All Soul's Day at Apreiskimo in Williamsburg

ALL SOULS’ DAY - ANNUNCIATION CHURCH

(259 North 5^th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211)

 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2^nd, 6:30 PM

 

On Saturday, November 2^nd, 6:30PM, Annunciation parish will commemorate All Souls’ Day.  We will remember our parishioners, their relatives and loved ones who have passed away.  We invite everyone to participate and honor the memory of their loved ones who are no longer with us.

 

Annunciation church address: 259 North 5th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 (corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Havemeyer Street, near the L and G subways at the Lorimer Street and Metropolitan Avenue subway station).

 

Annunciation parish website: https://www.katalikai.nyc

Mass for Lithuanian Catholic Religious Aid at Transfiguration in Maspeth, November 8, 2024, 2:30 PM

Our Lady of Pompeii, Dobbs Ferry, NY - 89th Annual Spaghetti Dinner Sunday, 10/27/2024 1P-6P

 

Tomorrow the parishioners of Our Lady of Pompeii in Dobbs Ferry will offer warm hospitality, high spirits and heaping plates of spaghetti and meatballs for the 83rd year.  Doors open at 1:00 PM and last admission time is 6:00 PM, so don't dawdle on your way from their 5 PM Sunday Mass.  Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children under 10.  Dinners are also available as takeout.  Proceeds go to Our Lady of Pompeii Church.

Buon appetito!

Who is Letise Balofa?

According to my blog, I live in the Our Lady of Vilnius basement even though it no longer exists.  Truth is, I have been spending a lot of time away visiting churches that are not long for this world.

When I returned from a protracted stay at St. Mary's in Yonkers, I encountered Letise hunched at a table surrounded by periodicals, crumpled pages from a legal pad and several paper cups of diner coffee, some of which had soaked through and were seeping.  She was wearing MY flannel pajamas and smelled a little too much like a human being.

I tend to be extremely territorial so, of course, I challenged her presence.  She produced a letter bearing my signature authorizing her use of the space for her professional activities as a "creative."  It was an obvious forgery, but I honored it because I admired her nerve and her stamina (so many discarded first lines, so much coffee).

Maybe I shouldn't have made this basement, heavily populated with souls that have left this world, sound so appealing.  I'll let her stay as long as she doesn't perturb Lonesome George and Avery Dulles.  John Monaco slipped in here last January.  They will probably squabble when he tries to bus her table.

Latest Decree of Relegation in the Archdiocese of New York: St. Joseph's, New Rochelle, NY - 10/18/2024

 

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Read it and weep:  Decree on the Relegation of the Church of St. Joseph, New Rochelle, NY

News 12 covered the parishioner rally at the church on March 20, 2022 after hearing that the church was to close on July 1st of that year.  

Members of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church located on Washington Avenue rallied Sunday after hearing the church is set to close July 1.

It seems like many of the archdiocese's decrees were created from an address book of remaining parishes and mail merge form letters.  The media coverage is startlingly identical, too: churches are closed due to low attendance, deteriorating physical plant and shortage of priests.  This coverage might have hit a bullseye with "lack of profitability," sensing that the archdiocese is a business rather than a pastoral enterprise in the spirit of Jesus.

Parishioners like Maria Figueroa-Valencia and Philip Sidoti express sadness and anger, stating an intent to save the church and the parish community, but unless the parish has megabucks and influential parishioners (Peggy Noonan), like St. Thomas on the upper east side of Manhattan, these efforts are likely to be overpowered.  

Unless the archdiocese becomes truly transparent and behave as if the laity has value beyond remittance envelopes, attendance will decline and vocations will become rarer.  When we look at our leaders, what they say and how they do business, we need to see Christ, not investment bankers.  But this is just one ewe's opinion.

Analects of Joseph Zwilling: On Proceeds of the sale of 1011 First Avenue

A piece in Catholic Review (New York Archdiocese sells office headquarters for reported $100 million) quotes Joseph Zwilling as saying, via email,  "proceeds of this sale will be used to ease the financial burden caused by the sexual abuse crisis."

A step in the right direction.  Maybe Mr. Zwilling will start attributing church closings to the root cause as well.  Poor attendance and a shortage of priests may be true, but not necessarily causal.

Lithuanian Monsignor to Be Created a Cardinal at December Consistory

 

Read Monsignor Rolanda Makrickas' Wikipedia bio.  Oh, and the other 20: The Deacon's Bench: Pope Francis Names 21 New Cardinals

RIP Stasys K. Janusas

Today I was informed of the passing of Stasys "Stan" Janusas, son of Our Lady of Vilnius stalwarts Grazina and Saulius Janusas.  Visitation will be held tomorrow and the service on Saturday.  Full information and obituary is available on the Whitting Funeral Home site:  Stasys K. Janusas, September 27, 2024

Father Eugene, though retired and unassigned, wants to remind everyone that he says Mass daily, that he prays for us and that he will say Mass for Stasys and his father, Saulius, who is suffering from ill health.

Though we have lost touch with each other after the Our Lady of Vilnius diaspora, we hold each other in memory and prayer.